Terrified Daycare Director

I am one of those mothers that caught onto cloth diapering late in the game. My first child wore disposables. When my daughter was born I started looking into cloth diapers. I realized that cloth diapers had changed so much over the years and decided that I could definitely do this. My next thought was the daycare. Would they be willing to use cloth diapers? All of the people that I knew that used cloth diapers were stay at home Moms. Were daycare centers willing to use them? I made the call and the daycare Director told me that they didn’t have a problem with it, but she said they “won’t do anything with the poop so maybe you should consider using disposables just for daycare.”

She sounded terrified. Were diapers really that scary?

I thought long and hard throughout my maternity leave about whether to go forward with this or not. My biggest concern was actually the daycare. I realize that I pay them so they should use whatever products I require on my baby. However, I know that they are incredibly busy woman and I didn’t want to put them out too much either. I came up with a plan that I think is ideal for cloth diapering at daycare.

bumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers were the first step in the plan. I bought many of them with hook and loop closures even though I read that they tend to wear out quicker. I wanted to provide them with a diaper that was as much like a disposable as possible. When you are changing six baby’s diapers at once it needs to go quickly. I bought a variety of other diapers for at home, but I’m very careful not to send them. I want to be consistent.

Flushable liners were the next step. I provide them with liners to go in the diapers so that all poop can get thrown out. This step was actually for me. I didn’t want the poop sitting inside the diaper all day long waiting for me to clean it off at night.

The final step is a Planetwise wet/dry bag. I think that this is an essential accessory for cloth diapering at daycare. Every morning I stuff the dry side with clean diapers and they put the dirty ones in the wet side throughout the day. I bring the bag home every evening and do the same thing the next day.

Using these three products have us successfully cloth diapering at daycare. I also recognized their fear of having to use cloth diapers. The week before my daughter started daycare I stopped in and showed them how to use the diapers. After showing them that it was very similar to a disposable they seemed much more at ease.

We are only a few weeks in and they have suggested to me a few times that we use disposables at daycare and cloth at home. I just explain to them that it’s important to me, my baby’s health, and my wallet that we use cloth full time.

Basically, I have tried to make it as easy as possible for them, but I’m also standing my ground. Now I am so committed to cloth that if they were to tell me that it’s not working out, I would find a new daycare center. I want to be respectful of them and their time, but also do what is best for my little one.

Written by Tracy K.
Bio: I am a wife and Mother of two. I work full time and love my work, but also love every moment at home with my little ones.

12 comments:

yeah – my daycare sends the poop home. its gross. but the flushable liners are kind of a pain i think, so i just deal with the poop when we get home. sometimes there is staining, but that is easy to take care of (thank you sunshine!).

I have to say- we used cloth at a daycare center too. the Director initially told me- no way, against health code. So, I got a copy of the PA State Health Code and showed that it didn't say they were not permitted, but that I was responsible for providing them, washing them, etc.

The end result? Daycare LOVED them! They had fewer blowouts and were more fun to change. We stuck wtih the BG but gradually snuck some FB in there too 😉 End of day, we converted the Director who researched using them for her third baby!

Good for you! I'm a past childcare provider (both in the daycare center and home setting), and now a SAHM who cloth diapers her daughter- I love seeing progress being made in teaching other childcare professionals about cloth! Way to go! 🙂

Good for you! As a past childcare provider- in both the daycare center and home setting (and now as a cloth diapering parent!)- I love seeing progress being made in teaching other childcare professionals about cloth, and just how easy it is! 🙂

It's great to hear that you've found a plan that works for you and you're sticking to your guns. The only thing that kind of breaks my heart about this is that after all of the acommodations you made your daycare still encourages disposibles. I hope there aren't women out there who would otherwise use cloth but choose not to because of daycares like that. I am one of the very lucky CD mamas who has a VERY supportive daycare and it makes a world of difference. I guess inside I just wish that everyone could catch on to how wonderful cloth can be but also that daycares would commit themselves fully to anything that is important to us as parents. Great article and thanks for sharing!!

I started late in the game using cloth too. My third was 7 months old when we started and before buying anything I spoke with my daycare about it and explained everything. Then I brought several dipers up there to show them and go over how to use them with them. I started with gdiapers so they could just throw the biodegradeable liners in the trash but after an illness my daughter couldn't use them anymore so we went a new route with a different diaper and liners so that they could esily throw the poop in the trash with the oter disposable diapers. They never once asked me to use disposables again. They stuck with me through everything. Their only thought was we will not wash them for you which of course not. But they were afraid before I had shown them it was not the old prefolds and snappis. The first day they used the cloth diapers they were SOOO excited when I picked my daughter up because for once in 7 months time, my daughter didn't have a blowout which she had on a daily basis with disposables. Since then several of the moms have also decided to switch to cloth. Daycares are paid for their time, and they are required to care for your child in whatever way you the parent want. It's the law. Lucky for us we had a great daycare. If your daycare refuses to do it or gives you trouble, you can report them. But no matter what they have to do what the parents want.

It seems to me that it's much grosser to shove a poop-filled diaper back into a diaper bag (or whatever) than to "deal with the poop"! I applaud you for standing your ground and I'm glad you're sharing your story!

Good for you! When it comes down to it, YOU are paying them to take care of YOUR child. They have to do what YOU want, or you can find someone who will. It's not like youre sending pre-folds and the gerber pull up covers, you made a conscious effort to make it easier on them, they should respect that. Plus, cloth is SO much easier once you get into the habit.

Good for you for standing your ground! :~) It sorts of frustrates me when people act like a baby's poop is filthy, especially in the early stages when they are drinking breastmilk exclusively. We just had an encounter today where a candy/ice cream store owner got all upset at us for changing a diaper outside her store (on our own changing pad, mind you) and claimed that she "lost a potential customer" because of us. She then proceeded to spray WINDEX (since when is Windex an all-purpose cleaner or sanitizer anyway?) all over the table (which was covered in crusty marshmallow, so clearly, they aren't too finicky about being clean anyway). There was a strong breeze, so it got on our baby. My husband asked her to wait until we left, and she said, "Oh, sorry," then sprayed AGAIN (getting my skirt soaked through to my underwear this time). ARGH. Sorry for ranting, but some people! So anyway, good for you!